When a business receives telephone calls, the caller is often put on hold awaiting further disposition. Before on-hold messaging was developed, callers were forced to listen to silence while they were on hold. Callers often got bored or frustrated if they were kept on hold for any length of time, sometimes to the point of hanging up. On-hold messaging systems were developed, at least in part, to solve this problem. With such systems, pre-recorded messages are played as the caller remains on hold. These messages have been in the form of music for the caller's listening pleasure and in the form of advertisements to provide the caller with information about the business. Because of the popularity of on-hold messaging, most business telephone systems available today have been designed to include on-hold messaging capabilities. These business telephone systems often include an on-hold input jack, usually referred to as a music on-hold (MOH) port. Previously, the audio output of a magnetic audio tape player was connected directly to the on-hold input jack. Typically, the messages were recorded onto endless loop cassette tapes. Once connected in this manner to the telephone system, the tape player is turned on and the endless loop cassette tape is played continuously. When a caller is put on hold, the tape player's audio output is connected to the caller's telephone receiver so that the caller hears the on-hold message or messages (i.e., music and/or advertisements). There are a number of problems associated with such on-hold messaging systems.
When used for on-hold messaging purposes, endless loop audio cassette tapes and the tape decks used to play them are prone to malfunctioning, usually from various types of mechanical failure. Such mechanical failures result in the on-hold messaging system being non-functional until the tape and/or the deck can be replaced or repaired. These tapes and decks are relatively expensive to replace or repair. The endless loop cassette tapes are typically played continuously for extended periods of time. The tapes are known to stretch, break, or just wear out and are generally replaced every 90 days before failure occurs. Being played so much, the tape decks are known to break down after a relatively short service life. Usually, the motors of the tape decks would burn out. The decks typically have a life span without repair or replacement of only about six months. In addition, the tape decks were not always compatible with a given business telephone system, even when that telephone system had on-hold messaging capabilities. This incompatibility usually resulted in the sound quality (i.e., volume level and/or clarity) to be unacceptably poor.
From time to time, a business may want to vary the message being played, for example, playing seasonal music only during a particular season (e.g., Christmas music) and tailoring advertisements to a particular season's demands. For instance, a business may wish to advertise lawn mowers during the spring and summer and snow plows during winter. In addition, the business may no longer wish to play one of the messages (e.g., an advertisement on a discontinued product line) or may wish to change only a portion of one of the messages (e.g., change the brand name of the product being advertised). With prior on-hold messaging systems, businesses were limited in their ability to have such changes made to their on-hold messages.
While multiple messages can be recorded onto the endless loop cassette tape, all the messages are heard continuously with each message only being heard in the sequence in which it was recorded. In addition, the entire endless loop cassette tape is normally filled with messages (i.e., music, advertisements, etc.) in order to avoid periods of silence. Previously, in order to service the on-hold messaging needs of a business (i.e., to change the on-hold message(s)), a new tape was recorded containing the desired new and old messages. The tape recording process is costly. This cost escalates when messages which do not need changing have to be re-recorded.
Therefore, there is a need for a more versatile and reliable on-hold messaging system, which makes it easier and less expensive to service the on-hold messaging requirements of a business.